The career form had overlooked the work worth keeping

The artist did not want the promotion we had made available. She wanted to undertake harder animation work and help colleagues solve it, without becoming the person responsible for their leave, appraisal and staffing. I had approved a framework that made those management duties the clearest route to higher pay. When eleven of eighteen experienced artists expressed a preference for craft development, I could no longer treat the problem as one person's reluctance to lead. Our account of advancement was narrower than the contribution the studio needed.

I grew up in Guwahati and completed visual communication at the fictional Zeqnari College of Visual Studies in June 1999. The following month I joined Orqevani Design Services as a graphic artist. The company had thirty-one employees and ₹4.6 crore revenue for FY ending March 2000. I worked in a seven-person creative group without reports or spending authority. My work was reviewed by more experienced artists, and I learned how much a useful criticism depends on explaining the work rather than announcing a judgement about the person who made it.

In September 2005 I moved into production coordination. Orqevani then employed seventy-two people and reported ₹11 crore revenue for FY ending March 2006. I coordinated six colleagues through two project leads within a ₹28 lakh annual administrative allowance. Artistic acceptance and client commitments remained with their owners. The role made the less visible contributions to a finished sequence easier to see: organising reviews, explaining a revision and keeping an agreed decision available to the next person. It also showed me how often recognition followed the final presentation rather than the full account of who had contributed.

Nelqori appointed me head of studio learning in April 2010. It had 126 direct employees and ₹25 crore revenue for FY ending March 2011. Eight colleagues worked through two leads within ₹63 lakh annual function expense. I worked with creative specialists to organise learning around the work the company actually undertook. They assessed artistic and technical competence; my team created the conditions for people to develop and demonstrate it. The distinction mattered. A course attendance record could tell us that someone had participated without establishing readiness for a particular creative responsibility.

In January 2016 I became head of people operations. Nelqori had 224 direct employees and ₹57 crore revenue for FY ending March 2017. Twelve colleagues worked through three heads with ₹1.2 crore annual function expense. The remit brought employment processes, development and manager support together. I wanted colleagues to understand how their careers could progress. The management-centred promotion form was one result. Its consistency appealed to me before I had examined what it implied for senior artists who wanted to remain close to their craft.

I became CHRO in June 2021. Today I report to Madhav Vezqoli, with Rukmini Tezqami leading creative production. The company employs 312 people and records ₹86 crore FY 26 revenue from commissioned animation services. Founders hold 73%, the employee vehicle 15% and the creative-enterprise fund 12%; I have no direct holding or vehicle allocation. My sixteen-person function works through three heads within ₹1.9 crore FY 2026–27 expense, alongside a separate ₹72 lakh development programme. I present people matters to directors without a statutory seat.

The specialist-career redesign cost ₹18 lakh and added ₹36 lakh annual pay expense. Eight people received specialist appointments and four entered management roles. Six remained without the proposed next appointment for different reasons: three needed further specialist evidence, while three management candidates had no suitable opening. We kept that distinction visible. A wider career framework did not mean everyone was entitled to the same immediate result, but it did mean the company should explain the relevant basis of the decision.

The credit review required ₹14 lakh and a different kind of restraint. Four of six clients agreed to the proposed public credits, covering sixty-four of ninety-six distinct contributors. The other thirty-two received verified internal records alongside everyone else, without implying permission to publish the underlying client work. A separate ₹23 lakh programme changed how creative review separated comments on work from private employment feedback. Six of nine groups consistently used the revised practice at the review date; three still needed attention. That was implementation evidence, not a measure of employee trust.

The internal-mobility review was commercially uncomfortable. Releasing three colleagues required ₹22 lakh interim-cover expense and a one-week delivery adjustment agreed through production and commercial owners. Two disputed transfer requests remained unresolved on role fit. I did not describe the programme as complete merely because most requests had a clearer next step. My languages are Assamese, English and Hindi, with working Kannada. My prospective board preparation starts with IICA registration, which I have not undertaken; no proficiency result or exemption is part of this account. Twenty-two days is provisional. I would bring a board experience of how career structures influence the capabilities an enterprise keeps, and a willingness to examine a well-intended rule I helped create.

Open to Board appointments

Languages / Assamese · English · Hindi · Working Kannada